


Amelia Pond Hates Leadworth

by MaleaBotor



Series: The In-Between [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Creepy, Fluff, Gen, Kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 22:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1024024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaleaBotor/pseuds/MaleaBotor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amy's first months in Leadworth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amelia Pond Hates Leadworth

England is rubbish. Leadworth is rubbish. It’s the wrong sort of house from her old one and the wrong sort of town, and everyone is ENGLISH. She is never going to forgive her parents for moving, NEVER.

***

After four days, when no amount of begging and threatening her parents seems to do, Amelia tries to run away. Six times. Her dad has to keep coming and fetching her back. The sixth time, when she’s made it all the way to Gloucester on the train with a story of visiting her aunt, the ride home is more quiet and tense than the other times.

“It’s not that bad, is it, surely?” says her dad eventually. Amelia sulks, her arms folded, and doesn’t answer. “At least stop running away,” he says. “Me and your mum were very worried about you.”

Amelia stops running away. She hasn’t given up. She just doesn’t like disappointing her dad.

***

“Amelia,” her mum says and Amelia looks up from her current tricky task of putting boots she’s made out of construction paper onto Gilbert, the family cat.

“I’m busy,” says Amelia crossly. She’s bored, and it’s boring here and she is NOT TALKING to her mum.

“Don’t do that,” says her mum, “it drives poor Gilbert mad, getting them off.” Amelia doesn’t respond. “Amelia!” says her mother sharply, and Amelia looks up at her, glowering, rather.

“What?!”

“There’s a little girl down the road and her mother and I thought you might want to meet her and have a playdate. Her name’s Ella.”

“She’s not Mary,” says Amelia. “And she’s a stupid English girl. I don’t care. ”

Her mother sighs, exasperated and makes the face she makes when she’s trying to be sensible and not yell at Amelia. “Fine,” she says. “But we have moved, Amelia, and we’re not moving back. You’ll have to learn to live with that.”

When Amelia keeps ignoring her, her mum shakes her head, and leaves the room.

***

Amelia has been in Leadworth for a month now, and she still refuses to leave her own lot. Her mum insists that she’ll have to go to school once break is over. Her mum says she’ll bring Aunt Sharon into it if she has to. Amelia loves her Aunt Sharon, but _she_ doesn’t see anything wrong about Leadworth either, and Amelia refuses to be bullied into giving in, to accepting that she’s moved. Maybe if her dad was pushing her too, she might compromise and go to the park at least. But Amelia Pond doesn’t have a dad.

***

School is going to start in two weeks and Amelia is setting herself up for the massive row she knows will happen when she refuses to go. Her mum will HAVE to take her back to Scotland if she refuses to go to school here, though, or she’ll get in trouble, because kids have to go to school. But they can’t make Amelia go to the stupid Leadworth school. Her mum is out running errands, and Amelia is making trips back and forth between the shed with her school supplies, hiding them behind and under gardening supplies. She doesn’t _quite_ want to incur the wrath that will result from wrecking them, but making things difficult is safe enough. When she’s outside, she hears the doorbell ring inside, and ignores it. A few minutes pass, and the bell rings again. Amelia sighs heavily and goes to switch on the TV and sit in the living room in front of it.

At the third ring of the bell, Amelia rolls her eyes, and stomps over to open the door.

“What.”

Outside is a boy, shorter than she is and looking taken aback. He is, in fact, too taken aback to speak immediately, so Amelia waits for a moment, and then shuts the door. It fills her with a little bit of vindictive pleasure for a moment, before the boy hesitantly knocks, and Amelia tsks and opens the door again.

“Mum said you’d moved in,” says the boy quickly and nervously. “She said you were here for a bit but I never saw you so I asked if I could come over and I did do and I’m here, well, cos of. That? And sorry for not saying anything but. I was trying to remember what I was saying and I couldn’t do and I’m Rory Williams from across the street.” He stops talking and catches his breath. “I thought maybe you’d want to come over.”

“Mum’s not home,” says Amelia. “I can’t go anywhere. Sorry.”

“Oh,” says Rory. “Can you come out and play later? When she’s home?”

“No,” says Amelia. “I’m protesting not being in Scotland anymore by not leaving the house.”

“Isn’t that dull?”

“Yes,” says Amelia. “It’s extremely boring. But so’s Leadworth.”

“It’s not that bad…” says Rory, and then looks like he wishes he hadn’t when Amelia glares at him.

“Why’d you come over then?” she says. “I bet you didn’t have anything else to do, right?”

“Kind of…” says Rory.

Amelia grins triumphantly. “Alright,” she says loftily. “I bet you don’t even know what fun is. So I’ll let you come over for a bit so I can teach you.” In her grandest manner, she stands aside from the door and beckons him inside the house. Rory hesitantly walks in. He’s so wound up that he nearly falls over when he steps on a squeaky mouse toy and it makes a loud squeaking noise. Amelia laughs at him, and Rory steps off it and looks at it.

“You have a cat?”

“No,” says Amelia. “Come on, I want to show you a computer game Aunt Sharon bought me.” She grabs his hand and drags him upstairs.

***

When Amelia’s mum comes home, Amelia is standing on the couch, wrapped in a blanket for a cape and pretending to be a Scottish warrior witch queen. Rory is her personal knight, and he has to go and fetch her leaves and flower petals from the garden that she can use to cast a travelling spell. Her mum enters the living room just as Amelia is tossing a shredded mixture of plantlife up into the air over them.

“Amelia, _honestly_ ,” she says. “Clean that mess up.” 

“Hi, mum,” says Amelia, and then gestures at Rory and says, “Sir Williams? Clean up the spell.” Rory gives her mum a guilty look and crouches down to start picking leaves off the carpet. “Mum, this is Rory. He’s from across the street and he’s my English best friend. Oh, yeah. Rory? You’re my best friend here, now, okay?” She doesn’t give Rory a chance to answer.

***

Amelia feels very smug, and proud of herself her first day of school in Leadworth. She bets none of these dumb English people managed to already have a best friend _their_ first days. She’s still not happy here, but maybe _everything_ about it isn’t horrible and boring.

The next time she runs away to Gloucester, she makes Rory come with her.

**Author's Note:**

> The only one of my In-Between stories that....doesn't actually take place in-between. It's only a few months before, though, really, so. Still counts.


End file.
